Lesson 679
Summary In the past, Ane and Mone meet with Gintoki in a shrine. The sisters are stunned by his proposal of studying the Dragon Holes, locations where the Altana veins sprout out from. They remind him that there are countless holes of different sizes all over the world to the point where he will never visit them all in his lifetime. Seeing his determination, they wonder why; but he only responds that he already made up his mind as he wanted to find "someone" no matter what. During one of his visits to a hole within a forest, he circles it on a map of Japan, the latest in a series of points running down the archipelago. In the present, Takasugi confirms that his traveling had found Utsuro's still living heart, while at the same time, Okita tells the stunned Shinpachi and Kagura his own belief of Utsuro's survival. Takasugi wonders how long Gintoki had known Utsuro wasn't dead; Gintoki had known from the beginning as since the immortal threw himself into a Dragon Vein, his body seemed to disappear. Except that being a mutant born of Altana, he simply merged into the Earth's energy with a high chance to be reborn somewhere else. What clinched it was the ominous words Utsuro said before his suicide; the immortal's belief that humans had chosen a life of suffering and sadness and that there was now no one else that can end it nor save their master. Gintoki understood that by saving the world from Utsuro's machinations, they cursed Utsuro/ Shouyou with his continued life of resurrections. Gintoki ultimately decided to be alone again as a disciple of Shouka Sonjuku due to his newfound mission. He traveled across the country searching for the shrined Dragon Holes that can be found in mountains, caves, forests and lakes and marking them on his map. He visits one of the last holes unchecked near a beach before encountering its priest.The elderly priest told Gintoki on how the hole had been enshrined for centuries and was believed to house a protective sea god. He admitted that the people here have seen many strange phenomena because of it. He then told of a recent strange event that he witnessed: while looking out at the hole, he noticed a strange shape floating within. Believing it to be a carcass, it turned out to be a large lump of still living flesh. A few days later, it transformed into something else. A young monk brought a bundle to the two to reveal to Gintoki what the lump became... a baby. The older monk admitted that the shrine was out of its depth and since this may be what Gintoki was after, he can take the "child" off their hands. Gintoki set up camp during the night and with a small knife, tried to stab the baby but doesn't go through with it. Present Gintoki tells Takasugi that he couldn't kill him despite his awareness that the immortal may regrow into Utsuro, Shouyou or someone else entirely. Instead, he traveled with the baby, who quickly grew into a child, but remained passive and never spoke, following him. During their travels, the child falls off a cliff road. The child nearly falls to his doom but Gintoki saved him, chastising him for not calling for help before chastising himself for his own behavior, thinking he was raising a final boss. He wonders out loud if Shouyou felt that same as Gintoki while dealing with this before turning away with a smile. Suddenly, the child answers the negative; he was far well behaved and charming then Gintoki ever was and noting the silver-haired man was far more mischievous and difficult as a child then almost everyone. But the boy counters that it resulted in Gintoki being relied upon more, causing him to suffer more than almost everyone. As Gintoki turns toward the child in shock, the boy asks the "older" man for one last favor before giving a Shouyou-esque smile. Characters * Sakata Gintoki * Takasugi Shinsuke * Ane (flashback) * Mone (flashback) * Utsuro (referenced) * Yoshida Shouyou (flashback) * Okita Sougo (cameo) * Shimura Shinpachi (cameo) * Kagura (cameo) Category:Chapters